Whew, it’s been a long while since I posted on this website. I’ve been playing a lot of this wonderful Star Trek mod for Sins of a Solar Empire. It’s the best Star Trek computer game I’ve ever played, and so thoroughly amusing that it’s not a game in and of itself. Regardless, it’s gotten me in the mood to post some Decipher Star Trek rpg ship stats up! Enjoy!

Wizards of the Coast has posted new Unearthed Arcana rules on prestige classes for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. In the spirit of that optional ruleset, I present to you my Knight of the Crown prestige class.

Sturm Brightblade by Jason Engle

This is still very much a draft, so I’m unsure if providing proficiency in all armor and shields is too strong. I’m also unsure whether it should be a requirement that one must have a level of the Knight of the Crown prestige class to become a member of the Knight of the Sword prestige class (in the novels, one advanced from Crown to Sword, then finally Rose).

It’s sad sometimes that in a fair plurality of the conversations I have with friends and acquaintances how often the subject of honor and integrity pops up, the tenets and personal code that people possess and are guided by. What’s sad is how many of these same people I talk to have to sacrifice their honor and integrity to keep their jobs. Oftentimes they feel they cannot say what they truly think or feel.

The Knights of Solamnia are a fictional organization in the fantasy world of Dragonlance whose motto is: My Honor is my Life. Perhaps it’s only in fantasy worlds where one can say and do what’s true in your heart and mind. Perhaps it’s just a sad statement of the current trends in societal interaction. Perhaps I’ve not had my cup of coffee yet and am just rambling.

Lots of interesting philosophical discussions and thoughts have happened today, and in the preceding weeks. What about? Veganism. Yes, I have given serious thought to living a vegan lifestyle. Based on my eating habits alone, I and my wife would say I’m 90% there. More thinking on the matter is needed.

It’s been a long and eventful summer. My wife and I have spent quite a lot of time together this summer, getting to know one another even more, falling deeper into love. I know my life is better because of her presence in my life. She started a new job three months ago that is a lot closer to home, so she’s enjoying the flex time that affords her and us. We’ve gone on two vacations, one with family, and one just by ourselves for our 3rd wedding anniversary. Our beloved dog-child, Lina, passed away at the beginning of summer, and we miss her dearly. I am going out of my own comfort zone and will be teaching English Language Arts in addition to Social Studies.

Some of these changes have filled me with great joy (my wife), some with great sadness (our dog), and others with trepidation (teaching ELA). At times I have wished I could emulate Vulcans in their cool emotion-less logic, and feel detached from events. Other times I desire anything but. As the Vulcans would say, humans are not logical. It’s good to reflect, examine, and reassess our own lives, for as Socrates would say, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

In honor of the purplexed Vulcans and reexamining past endeavors, here’s an updated Vulcan Suurok-class starship.

So here I sit in the latest Snowpocalypse to hit the southeastern United States. As my wife and I gaze through the winter wonderland that now paints our neighborhood and many other neighborhoods I can’t help but think of the icy-dwelling Breen of Star Trek.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, mainly due to being busy with friends and family and work, but now that things have effectively been shut down by the snow, I have time to post again!

So my wonderful sister-in-law gifted me with the Star Trek Attack Wing: Starter Set by Wizkids and I have just been in absolute love with this game! I mentioned previously the Star Trek Fleet Captains game (also by Wizkids) and Attack Wing complements, rather than supplants the former. Both games do a damn good job of capturing the feel of Trek while still being fun and relatively balanced. While Fleet Captains is a board game, Attack Wing is a minis game. Both games are immensely fun, and the easiest analogy to make to understand the two games is that Fleet Captains is like an entire season of a Star Trek series, while playing Attack Wing is like a single episode (complete with missions!)

I’d say more, and I will later, but my wife is calling for more together time, so I bid you all a safe and warm winter night (or day)!

Below is a link to my very first youtube video on Attack Wing, and anything, for that matter. Enjoy, and please comment either here or there!

In a prior post, many months ago, I discussed the Earth-Romulan War. In that first interstellar conflict between Earth and Romulus, humanity found itself at a decided disadvantage against a mysterious and hostile species bent on humanity’s destruction. In the various Star Trek television and movie series, this event was always just a backdrop. However, pocket books released two novels in the Romulan War series that detailed the war in depth, heavily featuring the United Earth NX-class refit. All well and good, but the recent reference book, the Federation – The First 150 years, further muddies the matter by contradicting events in the Romulan War series. Both of these sources are contradicted by the Star Trek: Legacy computer game!

All of this to say, that there are things in life that are perhaps best left as purely backdrop elements, memories not to be forgotten, but also not the focus or constantly at the forefront of people’s minds. Perhaps we’d have less conflict in our world today if people left the muddied past where it belongs, in the past, and instead focused on the here and now.